Wi-Fi Jargon Buster – Part 2

We’ve already busted the jargon around Wi-Fi inside your home but sadly the jargon doesn’t stop there! Here, we explain the technical terms for Wi-Fi outside of your home:

What does ADSL mean?

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. The most basic broadband connection available today. It is faster than older dial-up technologies but less reliable than fibre. It operates purely over copper telephone lines and sends data along these at speeds up to 24Mbps, though often much slower.

ADSL

What is FTTC?

Fibre To The Cabinet is a technology using a combination of fast fibre-optic cables and slower copper wires. Typically, the maximum download speed is up to 80Mbps and often much less.

Fibre to the cabinet FTTC

What does Cabinet mean?

These are the green boxes sited along our streets and roads. Our internet and phone connections come from there. Data is sent along copper or wire cables before being routed to our homes.

Cabinet

What is FTTP?

Fibre To The Premises does without the copper wires used in FTTC and delivers fast fibre-optic internet speeds of up to 1Gbps directly to the modem/router in your home. However, availability is currently limited and restricted to highly populated business and residential areas.

Fibre to the premises - FTTP

What is Air Fibre?

Air Fibre uses a combination or fibre-optic and wireless technologies to deliver ultrafast internet speeds. The technology is more future proof with speeds of up to 6Gbps expected within 5 years.

Air fibre